Independent State of Croatia

The Independent State of Croatia (10 April 1941-8 May 1945) was an Axis Powers puppet state formed in 1941 during World War II. Led by Prime Minister Ante Pavelic with Tomislav I of Croatia as a figurehead, it emerged in much of occupied Yugoslavia, and its forces contributed soldiers to the fight against the Soviet Union's Red Army on the Eastern Front in addition to fighting against Yugoslav Partisans. The Independent State of Croatia was responsible for massacring Serbs, Romani, and non-Croats, and even the collaborationist Chetniks fought against them. The country fell in 1945 with the end of the war, and many of the Ustase leaders were either executed by Yugoslavia or went into exile and coordinated independence operations against the communist government.